A Retrospective Study to Determine the Impact of Psychedelic Therapy for Dimensional Measures of Wellness: A Qualitative Analysis of Response Data
Victoria di Virgilio, Amir Minerbi, Jenna Fletcher, Anthony di Virgilio, Salena Aggerwal, Luke Sheen, Jagpaul Kaur Deol, Gaurav Gupta
medRxiv February 15, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.12.23285814 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 65 |
| Population | Civilian or military veterans who used psychedelic medicines for non-recreational therapeutic purposes in the last 3 years |
| Intervention | psychedelic medicines |
| Topics | Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Mood Recreation Qualitative research Spirituality Mental health Clinical psychology Alternative medicine Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Use of various psychedelic medicines appears to be associated with a broad range of qualitative experiences that could help clarify how they impact wellness. |
Abstract
Abstract Background The World Health Organization (WHO) defines wellness as the optimal state of health of individuals and groups. No study to date has identified the impact of psychedelic medicines for optimizing wellness using a dimensional approach. Treatment effects can be measured more broadly using a composite score of participants’ global perceptions of change for pain, function, and mood scores. Given the precedence in previous work for retrospective study of participants’ self-medicating with these substances, the nature of this study design allows for a safe way to develop further evidence in this area of care, with wellness as the broad indication.
Methods: 65 civilian or military veterans between the ages of 18-99 self-identifying as having used psychedelic medicines for non-recreational therapeutic purposes in the last 3 years were recruited for this study. Participants completed various standardized questionnaires that will be analyzed in a separate study, while this study analyzed the qualitative experiences described in relation to the medicines used and coded them according to themes developed from review of previous literature.
Results: A total of 93 comments were analyzed. Participant comments were classified into these categories: mysticism and spirituality, functional improvement and self awareness, social connection and cultural impact, impact on medical and mental health conditions, neutral impressions, sensations or difficult experiences. Participants described impacts in these categories related to spiritual, physiological, psychological, and social improvements, as well as difficulties and complex emotions regarding the experience of using psychedelic medicines.
Discussion: Wellness of individuals or groups is not simply an absence of disease, symptoms, or impairments. Rather, it reflects the outcome of numerous personal characteristics, psychophysiology, and choices, expressed throughout one’s lifespan, unfolding in dynamic interaction with a complicated socio-cultural and physical environment. Participants that used psychedelic medicines described improvement of medical and mental health conditions, social interaction, spirituality, and overall function. In general, quality of life and wellness consequently improved after the use of these medicines based on established multidimensional factors.
Conclusion: The use of various psychedelic medicines appears to be associated with a broad range of qualitative experiences that could help clarify the mechanism of how they impact wellness in the future.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patients’ Accounts of Increased “Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Patients with treatment-resistant depression enrolled in an open-label trial of psilocybin | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 20 |
| LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects Patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases | 2014 | Prospective follow-up with qualitative content analysis | n = 10 |
| Patient Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Adults aged 22 to 69 with clinically elevated anxiety associated with a cancer diagnosis | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 13 |
| Psychedelic therapy for smoking cessation: Qualitative analysis of participant accounts Participants who completed a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation pilot study | 2018 | Qualitative follow-up study using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis | n = 12 |
| The hidden therapist: evidence for a central role of music in psychedelic therapy Patients undergoing psychedelic therapy with psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression | 2018 | Qualitative study | n = 19 |
Citations in the library
Cites 11
- Patients’ Accounts of Increased “Connectedness” and “Acceptance” After Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Journal of Humanistic Psychology June 19, 2017
- LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects Journal of Psychopharmacology November 11, 2014
- Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study PLoS One August 19, 2013
- Patient Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Journal of Humanistic Psychology April 28, 2017
- Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm Canadian Medical Association Journal September 8, 2015
and 6 more in the library